A 26-year-old lady tagged as Russia's "sexiest" or "most beautiful" poker player has been found dead in her bathroom. It is believed that she died due to a massive electric shock from a hairdryer.
Liliya Novikova was at home alone when her lifeless body was discovered on the floor at her bathroom in Moscow on Tuesday, June 11.
A math whiz kid holding a first-class degree in design engineering from a top Russian university, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Novikova turned down job offers from leading industrial companies. Instead, she became a professional poker player and thanks to her quick wit with numbers, she had been leading a popular and lucrative career in the poker world.
Novikova, who streamed using the name "liay5", was pretty famous both as a real-life and online player, usually making videos about poker and online gaming and posting it on Twitch.tv, a live online gaming streaming platform. She had over 15,000 followers on Instagram. She had a contract with PokerStars and ran her own online masterclasses and workshops for amateurs.
Accidental Electric Shock
On that tragic day, Novikova was in her flat at the prestigious Kutuzovsky Prospekt when her parents decided to call her. They became worried when she did not answer her phone and asked her neighbor to check the apartment.
An elderly lady, who lived next door to Novikova and also had a spare key to the young lady's room, found her on the bathroom floor.
The Russian Investigative Committee said, "During the first checks of young woman's dead body, signs of electric shock trauma were registered."
The poker star was believed to have been blow-drying her hair in the bathroom when the accident happened, but it is also thought that she may have possibly been using her mobile phone at that time.
Some reports speculate that the device she used was ‘faulty', whereas others say she might have bonked her head so badly after she was electrocuted, that she died instantly.
A post-mortem examination is yet to be scheduled.
From an early age, Novikova was already immersed in the world of online gaming, building up a huge following on her Twitch.tv channel. Her total live earnings in poker was almost $100,000, with her best live cash being $54,068, according to the Hendon Mob.
Novikova was also an avid snowboarder, cyclist, boxer and rower. She also operated her own online shop for poker-themed apparel.
She died just four days before her 27th birthday.
Source:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/lilya-novikova-dead-poker-bath-electrocution-hairdryer-bath-a8957136.html
