Neil: I don't know what a leprechaun event is, I play this through Facebook which doesn't charge but has ample "in game" purchases.
Anyway, I beat it by just buying five more bubbles three or four times to get through with 3 stars, so I did breakdown and pay some dough just to get past this one level. In so many things, it is best to have money than skill.

If i have to use power-ups, screw it. I realize I'm old school, but I think you should be able to defeat a level in any game with basic tools and not constantly have to pay money for better tools. I could have defeated this level long ago if I wanted to spend $20 or more on a never ending supply of 5 more bubbles. But where's the skill in that?

Does any one have any suggestions for beating 269 in the Facebook version? You don't get the pink Stella special bubble but the red one. I've tried everything and EVERYTHING smashes those bubble suckers and takes either all my available bubbles or as good as. It seems impossible.