Major US sweepstake casino Pulsz rakes in close to a billion dollars in revenue per year, but the European leaders behind the business are fighting it out for control.
Pulsz, operated by Yellow Social Interactive (YSI), has cemented itself as one of the victors of the US sweeps craze. But the individuals behind it are at war over the company’s origins, its fine print, and who is really in charge.
The dispute has reached the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, with a first judgement issued on 10 April offering a rare window into the often-opaque world of sweeps and the major European industry figures who built successful businesses in the US grey market.
The cast list includes several prominent figures involved in lottery betting business Lottoland, including its CEO Nigel Birrel and founder David von Rosen, as well as long-term British industry veteran and Crucial Compliance CEO Paul Foster, and former poker affiliate CEO Damian Sokol.
At its heart, the case is about who founded the business and why. Goldmist – the company’s majority shareholder, linked to von Rosen (who is not a party to the case) – is suing minority shareholder Sokol and YSI’s sole director Foster, on behalf of YSI.
Goldmist holds 89.8% of the company, but because YSI’s bylaws require 90% to pass major decisions, Sokol’s 10.2% stake gives him an effective veto, hence the somewhat unusual legal route.
Goldmist and its sister company Silvermist allege Sokol is the one actually calling the shots in the company as a “shadow director”, and that he has been diverting business to rival sweepstakes. Sokol and Foster counter that the claimants are misrepresenting the original partnership. Additionally, Foster alleges in the proceedings that they used threats against him and his family to wrestle control of a very profitable business.
The judge refused to allow key parts of the claim to proceed, while also ordering the claimants to fund the litigation if they wanted it to continue. He also found that Goldmist had failed to be fully transparent in its initial procedural disclosure, but that it has an arguable case on the surviving claims.
How Pulsz was born
Sweepstakes casinos surged in popularity during the 2020s as a way to offer gambling-like products to American consumers outside formal gambling regulations. Major names in this space include VGW, High 5 Games, Stake.us, and YSI, which operates Pulsz from offices including one in Gibraltar’s World Trade Centre (pictured). It has been extraordinarily successful, having generated over $1bn in revenue with its largest shareholder so far having receiving over $233m in dividends.
Where YSI came from is bitterly contested, however. Goldmist says it was built by German firm Scalors GmbH using Lottoland funding, intended to benefit their side exclusively. Silvermist and Goldmist are both owned by von Rosen’s Clean Seven Seas Foundation. (Foster originally held the 89.8% majority stake in YSI before transferring it to Goldmist in 2022 for £1 – a transaction he says was executed under duress.)
Sokol tells a different story: he argues that he set up the underlying platform as a white-label product in 2017 through a company called Patrianna, and says there was never any understanding it would be exclusively licensed to YSI. Both sides agree that von Rosen’s companies provided an early €1.5m loan.
Figures associated with Lottoland are involved in the case
Foster was proposed as director by Nigel Birrell, according to von Rosen. The claimants say Sokol was always intended to run day-to-day operations under Foster’s supervision, and that Sokol preferred to work as a consultant. Foster is accused in the lawsuit of approving contracts that benefited Sokol’s companies at YSI’s expense. However, the judgement notes that the claim does not allege dishonesty or personal benefit on Foster’s part.
YSI starts to make serious cash
YSI was incorporated in Gibraltar in October 2019, with Foster as sole director. Over time, service providers owned by Sokol – covering the platform licence, consultancy, marketing, fraud prevention and more – were paid over $24m in 2022 and 2023 alone. DS Consulting has since claimed a further $30m, issuing a 2024 invoice for over $17m.
The money flowing to Sokol’s companies was not the only concern. YSI itself was booming, generating $51.5m profit in 2022 and $788m in revenue in 2023, according to legal filings. The real question for Goldmist was whether Foster was actually running things, or just signing off on Sokol’s decisions.
The judgement contains some striking passages from recorded conversations. In a March 2024 call with Lottoland representatives, Sokol said of his decision to engage his marketing company Medialicious: “it was my decision to do it like that because I believe it’s the best for the company… That decision alone generated hundreds of millions of revenue, frankly speaking.”
In a separate May 2024 call with von Rosen, Sokol was blunt about Foster: “He does not have access to banking, he does not have access to any systems. All he does is sign.”
The recordings were made without Sokol’s consent, and he argues they were protected as part of settlement negotiations. The judge declined to rule on that, but was not dismissive of their contents: “It does appear to me that Mr Sokol’s remarks call for an explanation.”
The rival sweeps operations
A separate allegation is that Sokol has been actively diverting business away from Pulsz. Through companies including Final Boss, B2Spin and B2Services, he is said to have built a portfolio of rival platforms – McLuck, HelloMillions, SportsMillions, Payfame, Jackpota and Megabonanza. Goldmist claims the Pulsz platform was licensed to these rivals, YSI staff were redirected to work for them, and Medialicious promoted McLuck as a “Pulsz Casino Alternative.” YSI’s own data is said to show declining traffic to Pulsz and rising numbers for Sokol-affiliated platforms.
Sokol’s response was brief: “I was acting as a consultant on a non-exclusive basis. It was never discussed that I would stop operating other businesses.” The judge was not persuaded this was enough to dismiss the claim at this stage. Given Pulsz’s scale, the potential value of this claim alone is described as “likely to be very substantial.”
The judge allowed the derivative claim to proceed, but threw out claims over the main platform and service contracts, finding these were validly approved by both shareholders at the time. What survives – claims of breach of duty over later addendum contracts and two conspiracy claims, particularly the Business Diversion Conspiracy – can continue only until the disclosure stage, subject to conditions around how the litigation is funded.
The judge noted there was “some evidence” Goldmist had sought to leverage its complaints to gain control of YSI, though he stopped short of concluding that. The judge’s ruling does not determine liability, but only whether the case can proceed.
A Patrianna spokesperson said the company was “very pleased with the findings”, pointing to the struck-out claims, the costs condition, and the judge’s comments on disclosure. They also noted the court had “cleared the way” for their application to have the remaining claims thrown out entirely. Von Rosen did not respond to a request for comment. Foster declined to comment.
The judge all but ruled out mediation, assessing the dispute as “beyond the point where mediation has any real prospect of success”, and observed it may be “unrealistic to expect YSI long to continue to operate with Goldmist and Mr Sokol as its only members.” A sale or buyout, he noted, may be the only way out. For now, the battle continues.