What is Canadian loner?
In the standard game here, any player may order up the turned card in the first round of bidding, and the maker then decides whether to play with their partner or alone. When the dealer's partner orders up, the dealer picks up the turned card and the two of them play the hand together.
With the Canadian loner, the dealer's partner may still order up in the first round, but only by playing alone. The dealer takes the turned card and discards one as usual, then sits the hand out, and the dealer's partner plays the five tricks against both opponents. If they don't want to play alone, they pass.
Nothing else changes. When an opponent or the dealer orders up, or when anyone names a suit in the second round, the maker chooses whether to go alone as in the standard game, and the scoring is the same.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Euchre | Canadian loner |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer's partner orders up | Standard EuchreThey play the hand with the dealer, and may choose to go alone. | Canadian lonerIn the first round, ordering up means playing alone against both opponents. |
| The dealer | Standard EuchreTakes the turned card, discards one and plays the hand with their partner. | Canadian lonerStill takes the turned card and discards one, then sits the hand out. |
| Other calls | Standard EuchreEvery maker chooses whether to play with their partner or alone. | Canadian lonerUnchanged when an opponent or the dealer orders up, and for every call in the second round. |
| Scoring | Standard Euchre1 point for three or four tricks, 2 for all five, 4 for all five alone; 2 to the defenders for a euchre. | Canadian lonerThe same. A forced lone hand scores 1 for three or four tricks and 4 for all five, and a euchre gives the defenders 2. |
| Players | Standard EuchreFour in two partnerships, or three playing cutthroat. | Canadian lonerFour only: the rule needs a dealer's partner, so it isn't offered at a three-player table. |
| Other options | Standard EuchreThe joker, a 32-card deck, Bid Euchre and the target score can be chosen. | Canadian lonerWorks with the joker, the 32-card deck and every target score; a turned-up joker is never ordered up, so the rule doesn't apply then. Bid Euchre has no turned card and is played without it. |
History
Euchre has no single rule for playing alone. In Australia, England and Canada a dealer's partner who orders up the turned card must play alone, and the dealer does not play that hand, while in the United States any player, the dealer's partner included, may order up and play with a partner. Other accounts give Britain, Canada, Australia and parts of New Zealand for the play-alone rule.
No description says whether the dealer still picks up the turned card when their partner orders it up alone. Here the dealer does, and discards as usual, before sitting the hand out, so every hand is dealt and exchanged in the same way. The rule applies only to the first round of bidding, when the turned card is the one being ordered up.