Just to confirm, with “Return to start position on stop” in preferences unchecked, (and without setting up any key commands), here’s what happens:
When event is highlighted and you hit play, it plays. When you hit stop, it goes back to beginning of event.
When event is not highlighted and you hit play, it plays. When you hit stop, it stops where you are, and if you hit play again, it starts from there. But, if rather than hit play, you hit stop, playhead goes back to where you most recently started and stops there.