One of Russia’s finest Twitch TV poker streamers, Liliya ‘liay5’ Novikova, has been found dead in her apartment, apparently after accidentally electrocuting herself in the bath while using a hairdryer…
The 26-year old poker streamer, a former Team PokerStars pro, was discovered after her parents raised the alarm when they were unable to contact her, according to Russian news agencies.
A neighbour who had keys to the apartment reportedly found Liliya in the bath unconscious and called an ambulance, with preliminary medical reports classing her death as accidental.
Her passing, just four days before her birthday, has shocked the poker community, Liv Boeree among those stunned by the tragic news…
Novikova was an engineeering graduate of Moscow State Technical University who found herself immersed in online games from an early age, building up a large following on her TwitchTV channel.
She also has close to $100,000 in live cashes according to the Hendon Mob, from WSOP, partypoker and PokerStars tournaments across Spain, Czech Republic, Belarus and her native Russia.
Outside of her poker and eSports life, Liya’s active interests included cycling, snowboarding, basketball, rowing and boxing.
Her presence as part of the poker community will be sadly missed and PokerTube extends its condolences to her family, friends and fans for their tragic loss.