[ErrantNight]

the implication of autopilot is that you treat every card situation precisely the same regardless of the table and the players at it. autopilot implies that you've switched your brain off and are not paying attention to how players are responding to you.

when you've played a lot, it means that a lot of decisions become easy... that you've seen situations or similar situations so many times that you're able to process necessary information many times faster because you can incorporate details that previously you might have gotten hung up on. basically, you're having to strain less to come to the same decisions you conceivably could have recognized before.

being on autopilot means that you've stopped thinking. that you've acquired some idea of what the "standard" play is and you always play it. you, for example, always raise every street with a set, regardless of additional information that might lead you to believe you're behind. now, frequently, if you're good enough to be able to play strictly on autopilot, some of these mistakes are not major in and of themselves, but they add up. and worse (?), it means you've stopped growing and learning as a poker player, stagnating your development.