I hit instant payout to a little after 2PM CDT today.  It was >= 1.00BTC as most people have been suggesting.  I hit instant payout for the primary reason that I had passed the 1BTC mark and I wanted to "set" the last payout time so that payout the following day would occur at approximately the same time   Anyway, it hit my wallet immediately and within perhaps 5 or 10 minutes [I really wasn't watching since I was very very busy with work], confirmations were appearing.  Over 40 in less than 5 hours.  It seems the magic number is >= 1.00BTC payout to get quick confirmation.   All is good so far in my neck of the woods [feels like Seattle and April, but other than that ....].

Note to any reader.  I have NEVER had a payment not reach my wallet from any pool.  If a pool has problems, payment is eventually sent.  If confirmations are slow, it eventually shows up [usually I get the initial 0 confirmation notice in my wallet, but occasionally I have stopped my client to backup, sometimes swap coins into an encrypted wallet, and forget to open it when a payout occurs and when I open it I usually see it right away, although sometimes there is a delay for it to show up until first confirmation .. never been more than an hour for me except when there was a backlog and even then I don't usually have much trouble].

Just trying relieve the anxiety that some users have with worry that their coins are lost.  Just not likely unless you put in a completely incorrect address [that appears valid to bitcoind].