
"Gamplay and competitiveness" ??
"started by someone who didn't like getting beat on last call of loner" ??
Ya think ???
I think not - to me it just rudeness, ignorance and overkill !! And an insult to your partner. But more knowledgeable people than me have written about it.
I like to play euchre following the Harvey Lapp 10 commandments see these at http://euchrestrategy.homestead.com/comrevisited.html - "Don't go alone if you have 8 or 9 points. Your partner might help you make 2 points to win the game. You don't need 4 points anyway"
Also Joe Andrews has written "Score considerations-
If you are losing badly, then the Loner may be your best chance for salvation. Now the "borderline" hands become candidates. If the opponents are "at the bridge" (9 points in a ten point game), and you have a score of 6 or 7 points, a Loner by your side is a virtual forced call. Sometimes, it is good technique to order up your partner, and then go alone. That takes a trump (which might be a Bower) out of the play. On the other side of the coin, bidding a Loner with a sizeable lead is folly - unless the hand is a sure thing. - And NEVER call a Loner when the score is 8-8! This is a slap to your partner's face, and will agitate the opponents, as well....... "
If I am in a game, and you go alone on 8 - not by error - but deliberately - i simply leave the game - i have no wish to play that way - and i register my disgust by leaving - if you were my p and you call alone on 8 - the same applies - i wont play that way - and it often seems a waste of time and breath explaining why !!
I am not fussed about winning/losing it really is all about how you play the game !!

SweetnessnLight