Liliya Novikova dies in tragic home accident at Age 26
The tragic news of the death of Russian poker pro and Twitch Poker streamer Liliya ‘liay5’ Novikova, who was only 26-years old, has shocked the poker world, many of those who knew the multi-talented young woman devastated by her passing…
Just heard news of Liay Novikova (Liay5) passing away. Poker and Twitch lost a great ambassador today. Really sad.
— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) June 12, 2019
The 26-year old was found dead in the bathroom of her apartment in Moscow, having apparently slipped in the bath – a neighbour finding her unconscious body after her worried parents had been unable to contact her.
Liliya Novikova, who went by the nickname ‘liay5’, held a degree in Design Engineering from the Moscow State Technical University.
By that time, however, she was already an emerging star in the pro video-gaming world – Defence of the Ancients her game of choice.
Her other huge passion, however, was poker – the young Muscovite boasting close to $100,000 in live tournament earnings, several of her live successes coming at EPT and PS events in Europe. This included her biggest-ever cash of €49,440 ($54,068) at the 2015 EPT 12 Eureka festival in Prague.
Swit Swoo! Congrats to Liliya ‘Liay5’ Novikova on her €1,100 Deep Stack win at #EPTPrague https://t.co/qI6GzeKzJO pic.twitter.com/xYw9oNMJF8
— PokerStars Women (@PokerStarsWomen) March 4, 2016
Liliya Novikova had just joined Team PokerStars Pro
Earlier that same year she had signed on as a Team PokerStars pro, the third in the Russian ‘team’ that included 2008 WSOP runner-up Ivan Demidov and Mikhail ‘innerpsy’ Shalamov.
Liliya stated of her signing:
“I would’ve played poker anonymously for the rest of my life, and I could’ve been happy doing it…that didn’t stop me from dreaming, however.”
View this post on InstagramЯ никуда не пропадала, я просто слегка не вписалась в машину и разбила себе голову) Жестко пока не катаю, но катаю просто саты на #partypoker за PPL на Сочи и на Багамы с 9-18 ноября. На Багамы разыгрывают пакеты по 12,000$. Стоимость сателлитов от 0,01 цента, но я предпочитаю играть по 22$ и 109$. Ссылка в шапке профиля. А я пойду дальше Лайтово катать этики статуи и снг. ________ #russia#girl#vsco#vscocam#good#picoftheday#photography#model#selfie#look#liay5#poker#pokerstars#pokerface#покерстарс#покер#сочи#wsop#wsop2018#partypoker #partypokerlive#pokerface#888#eapt
Reactions from the poker community
A number of top pros were friends, colleagues and fans of Liliya, both Liv Boeree and former PS colleague Lex Veldhuis shaken by the news of her untimely passing…
Utterly heartbreaking. She was such a sweet, beautiful and talented girl who worked so hard to promote the game. Rest in peace lady
— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) June 12, 2019
Liya5 dies after an electric shock
Liliya was at her apartment on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow when the tragic accident occurred, Russian news reports stating that her concerned parents had contacted a neighbour to check on her.
When the elderly neighbour, a long-standing family friend, entered the apartment, she found Liliya lying unconscious in the bath. A preliminary doctor’s report has stated she died from accidental causes.
Liliya Novikova was just four days shy of her 27th birthday when she passed away, but had already packed a lifetime of experiences into her young years.
Her livestreams were incredibly popular – a lively Twitch Channel attracting close to 25,000 followers and, in addition, Liliya had a passion for numerous sports and activities; snowboarding, basketball and boxing among them.
VIP-Grinders.com joins the rest of the poker community in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Liliya at this most trying of times.
To pay our last respect to Liliya and to keep her in good memories here is her last Twitch stream:
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