Max Kohll, 11, recently found himself in a somewhat sticky situation. Whereas it is more or less accepted that March Madness brings out the degenerate gambler in just about everyone, Kohll has the misfortune of spending his weekdays in the one place where organizing an NCAA Tournament gambling pool is viewed as a bad thing: elementary school.
As noted by Matthew Hansen of the Omaha World-Herald:
Max is so sure about the Tar Heels he didn't want to let this insight go to waste — so the blossoming entrepreneur decided to organize his own NCAA tourney pool at Columbian Elementary in west Omaha this week.
Fill out your brackets, Max told his friends. Bring your $5 entry fee to school. Winner gets half the pot, and second and third split the rest.
Max was so sure of success that he hit up his mom, Janet Kohll, for a $5 loan to pay his own entry fee.
Unfortunately for the fifth grader, his principal got wind of this little operation and moved swiftly to shut it down. Much like so many other illegal gambling heavyweights before him, Kohll got the plug pulled on him by authorities before he could even hit his prime.
No word yet on whether or not he had Varez Ward in his pocket, by the way.
All in all, though, kudos to school officials for clamping down on the minor wagering that almost occurred. It will give kids there a chance to save up for life's true essentials – namely candy and soda.
Additional details via Omaha World-Herald:
(Kudos to Deadspin for the find)
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