Let's say you're playing a game of dice against an opponent. In this game, you both bet $10 and if the opponent rolls a 1-5, you win. If the opponent rolls a 6, they win. So, in this game, you're an 80% favorite.
If we take a look at your EV in this game:
- EV = [$20*.80] - [$10*.20]
- EV = $16 - $2
- EV = +$14
So, on average, you're profiting $14 dollars per game in the long run. Out of 100 games, you can expect to be up +$1400.
So, if your opponent rolls a 6, how mad would you get? Would you feel like quitting the game because they happened to hit their 1/6 chance to beat you? Would you think the game is rigged or it's unjust when you don't hold as an 80% favorite? Honestly, you probably don't get angry at all because you know the odds of your opponent rolling a 1-5 is much greater and you're winning more money in the long run.
And that's how poker is. You get your money in good as an 80% favorite, 65% favorite, 97% favorite, whatever, and you're getting paid off more often than you're losing in the long run. Why would losing as an 80% favorite in poker be worse than losing as an 80% favorite in a dice roll? It's exactly the same odds.
So, who cares about what hands bad players play? Who cares if they sometimes catch as an underdog to beat? Who cares about their reasoning? You aren't there to justify how someone wants to play. You're there to get your money in good and profit off of it. Don't worry about those random (mostly) 20-35% underdogs that get there sometimes.
And, on top of that, sometimes you're going to get in behind as well. You might not play bad hands like J5o preflop, but you'll run KK into AA, AQ into AK, etc. You're going to get into spots where you'll sometimes be the underdog, but you're going to win some of the time in these spots. You might not be risking J5o vs KK (~15/85 pre), but you might run KQs v KK (~15/85 pre). So, you'll find yourself in spots as an underdog, just less frequently. So, don't think it's unfair when a hand like J5o beats you aren't putting yourself in the same situation as the bad players are. In the long run, playing J5o is a losing play, no matter if they win, say, 40% of the time.