A survey of 3,000 casino patrons living in eight states in the Northeast found that more of them belonged to the player's club programs at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino than to the programs at any other casino in the region.

Phoenix Marketing International, which conducted the study last month, reported that 28 percent of those surveyed were Mohegan Sun Player's Club members. The same percentage were members of the Foxwoods Rewards program.

Twenty-six percent of those surveyed were members of the Total Rewards program available to patrons of Caesars Entertainment's Harrah's, Bally's and Caesars casinos in Atlantic City.

The survey participants resided in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. They were interviewed in numbers proportionate to each state's population, Phoenix Marketing said in a press release.

To qualify for the study, participants had to have gambled at a full-fledged casino or racetrack casino at least three times in 2013 and belong to at least one of the facilities' player's club programs.

The programs offered at 43 facilities in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania were evaluated.

Player's Club programs, originally meant to track patrons' frequency of play and award free-play credits, have been evolving into "true loyalty programs," Phoenix Marketing said. Consumers' expectations for the programs "exceed what many casinos are currently offering, and many programs need to be modified to better reflect their customers wants and needs."

Topping the survey participants' list of most important program benefits were the amount of free play offered, dining discounts and complimentary rooms.

Casino patrons also valued free self-parking, complimentary access to casino events, early check-in/late check-out and special bonuses and promotions based on achieving certain tier levels.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com