Can somebody remind me again why my estimated position in the payout queue keeps slipping as the days go by even if my hashrate and pool hashrate remain relatively constant? I understand it is an estimate, but why does the estimate get longer as bad luck increases?
I think it might be related to this:
"The Payout Queue prioritizes qualifying payouts based on their age (oldest earnings not yet paid). As you continue to mine, your balance increases and so do those ahead of you already in the Queue, so you may be bumped into the next found block chunk of payouts."
eligius.st/~gateway/faq-page#t13n27
If you are mining more consistently, with a good rig, often times smaller miners that haven't been paid in a long time seem to get pushed up to the top of the queue, as soon as they hit the minimum payout threshold.