What does "must award by $1000" mean?

Wondering what the sign on a slot machine "must award by $1000" means? It implies that the player is closer to a win if the amount displayed is close to $1000 but I'm guessing this is not true. Slot machines I think are controlled by a random number generator and players are never closer to a win. Is this correct?

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Prevailing wisdom says a target jackpot amount is chosen immediately following the last win at reset, and when it is reached, the jackpot is awarded. Due to elimination, your odds theoretically go up the higher it gets, since we don't know what the actual amounts. There are threads here and Wizard has posts on his wizardofodds.com site.