‘Like a drug’: SF man says he got hooked on betting at age 11 as teen gambling addiction surges

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — “Those games, it felt like crack cocaine. It was like ridiculous.”

A surge in online gaming is leading to problem betting by young people, especially teenage boys. Parents we interviewed had no idea how bad their child’s gambling addiction had become; in some cases, years passed before they found out. The ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team has been working on a joint project with ABC News called “In On The Action: The high stakes of youth gambling.”

Kurt Freudenberg tells us the first seeds of his gambling addiction were planted when he was just 11 years old. He didn’t sneak into some casino, roll the dice or hit the slots. Kurt found a way to make money selling the cosmetic upgrades he won on a first-person video game, called “skins.”

Kurt Freudenberg: “If you have a $50 skin, you can exchange it for in like gambling currency on a website basically and gamble that way.”
Dan Noyes: “So it converts into actual money.”
Freudenberg: “Yes.”
Noyes: “And at the age of 11, you figured that out?”
Freudenberg: “Yes.”

Kurt comes from a home with involved parents; he attended San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep where his mother still teaches physics. “And we just thought he was playing video games,” Kim Freudenberg said. “He was a regular kid, did sports in high school, just regular, normal kid. But behind the scenes, this whole thing was happening and we had no idea.”

Kurt’s addiction grew so intense over the years that by the time he reached college, he was gambling online every waking hour on sports, blackjack, roulette – rarely leaving his dorm room. “I wouldn’t be tired. I wouldn’t be hungry. I wouldn’t want to do basic things like shower because I was gambling so much. So, I would gamble 15 plus hours a day, just in the action.”

He dropped out of college and that’s when his parents made the difficult decision that may have saved Kurt’s life, to cut him off financially, unless he went to rehab.

Kim Freudenberg: “He went to a rehab and then that didn’t really work. And then he kind of went back to the same things. And then we finally had to just draw the line because he was going down real fast.”
Noyes: “So it was a tough year though.”
Kim Freudenberg: “It was. Yeah, it was a tough couple of years. Yeah, it was really bad.”
Kurt Freudenberg: “No matter what they did or what they said, or no matter what action they took, I was going to keep gambling. Like if I had to be homeless and continue gambling like that’s what I was going to do.”

The Freudenbergs’ journey illustrates a growing and startling trend. A recently conducted survey of more than 1,000 adolescent boys age 11-17 across the country found that 36% of boys gambled in 2025, including nearly half of 17 year olds.

Jim Steyer is CEO of Common Sense, a leading advocacy group out of San Francisco who published the study. He said, “I think the clear message for parents here is that you have to have an ongoing discussion with your kids about this all day, about not just media and technology, but now about the gambling factor.”

We contacted some of the major online gaming companies for comment including FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM. They referred us to a trade group, the Sports Betting Alliance, that said youth betting on those platforms is not tolerated.

Joe Maloney, spokesman for the Sports Betting Alliance, said, “It is a violation of the terms of service, and we are not here to engage in a conversation between parent or child, but we do communicate very, very clearly. This is a product for adults, and adults only.”

TAKE ACTION: Get help with gambling addiction

Dr. Nasir Naqvi runs Columbia University’s gambling disorders clinic. He told ABC News, “One of the problems with online sports betting and online gambling in general, is that it is much harder to verify the age of the person who is doing that compared to if you were to go to the racetrack and try to place a bet there.”

Naqvi said they are seeing children as young as thirteen with serious addictions that have a similar effect on the brain as drug addiction. “It’s a looming public health crisis. In fact, it’s already here.”

The Freudenbergs hope their crisis is behind them. Kim has launched a non-profit called “Parents Standing Together” to spread the word about the risks and harm of gambling for youth. She has also begun holding gambling addiction seminars at Sacred Heart Cathedral and other schools. She told the class in one recent session, “So here’s what we’re going to do. What gambling is and what it does to your brain, how gambling can be dangerous, warning signs of harm and what to do if you suspect a problem.”

And Kurt is in recovery, hasn’t placed a bet in two years. He’s back in college, a psychiatry major. He wants to research gambling addiction and help others who have suffered like he did.

Noyes: “So, Kurt, if you could talk to a young person, perhaps even your 11-year-old self, what would you want them to know?”
Freudenberg: “I would tell them that gambling is like a drug. It is the same. It functions on the brain, the same as a drug, and it will destroy your life. And I know that from firsthand experience, I was willing to discard every good thing in my life just to get another bet.”
Noyes: “Seeing him now and where he’s at, it must be a pretty good thing for you as a mom.”
Freudenberg: “No, it’s really awesome. And I’m so proud of him for, so proud of him for speaking out because it’s not easy.”

Kim tells the I-Team it’s important for parents to add gambling to the list of topics for discussion with your kids. Kurt says he got involved with Gamblers Anonymous and that’s been very helpful as he faces challenges in his recovery. For more coverage of ABC News’ investigation into the growing link between youth gambling and gambling addiction, tune in to Prime with Lindsey Davis tonight on ABC News Live.

Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.