Hooked at age 11
When Malek decided to share his story, he initially focused on high schoolers — but he’s now increasingly booked for middle schools.
Kurt Freudenberg was just 11 when he started gambling, trading valuable “skins” — cosmetic upgrades used in video games — for digital currency he could use to bet on gambling sites. Within weeks, the sixth grader was betting thousands of dollars a day on online blackjack and roulette.
“It felt like a high, an extreme rush,” said Freudenberg, who is now 23. “I would play soccer and score a goal or get an A on a test — nothing compared to that high on gambling.”
By high school, Freudenberg expanded into sports betting on NBA and NFL games and offshore casinos that only accepted cryptocurrency, winning as much as $5,000 on a single bet — which he immediately plowed back into more gambling. “If I had a
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