One of my neighbours, a million years ago, was obviously addict to the slot machines. He would spend hours spinning in a nearby bar (these machines are allowed in bars in my country of origin) and my take is that he would spend a fortune on it. Once, I passed by and I overheard him saying "I am going to teach this machine who is in charge". It sounded like he was attributing some short of conscience and life to the machine and though he could "beat it". I have observed that many people that gamble are into that type of thinking, that is, it is me against this code and this machine and I can actually break the code and win.
I personally do not play slots, but do you think that is why people like slot machines? Short of breaking their code?
No, modern slots are very, very exciting to play, they have great graphics, a lot of win opportunities and other benefits. Overall, there is some story behind every slot games, some are about ancient greek gods, some - about mythic warriors and so on.
At the same time, people think on slots like you have to feed it in order to get something from it. i.e. I know people who lose and look positively at it because they think that slots need to eat money in order to return some to you. Then they lose money and say offensive words like are you still hungry you mf... give me some money back.
I haven't heard anyone trying to break the code but some people really think that there should be some secret sombinations that will hack the slot machine and they'll become millionaires.