A Russian poker player and Instagram influencer was found dead in her Moscow apartment.
Liliya Novikova, who was a well-known member of the online poker playing community, was found by an elderly neighbor, according to Russian media reports, dead in her bathroom.
No official report on the woman’s death has been released yet, but an autopsy is expected to confirm the exact cause.
Welfare Check
The Evening Standard reported that Novikova’s parents raised an alarm when they could not get in touch with her.The Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Russian daily, was cited in the BBC report as noting that the elderly neighbor that found her body had a key to her apartment and was asked by the parents to perform a welfare check.
“She found the girl’s body.”
Novikova was an active contributor on Twitch.tv, a live online gaming streaming platform. Russia Today reported she had a contract with PokerStars, an online poker cardroom that bills itself as “the world’s largest poker room” with “the biggest tournaments online.”
The Twitter account for PokerStars sent out condolences.
PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis, who is also active on the Twitch streaming platform, shared his condolences, saying, “she had such a good influence on poker/twitch community through her hard work and efforts.”
“I’ve always admired all the many different things she did. What a tragic loss, and so young,” he wrote.
Team Pokerstars Pro player, Liv Boeree commented on her death: “Utterly heartbreaking. She was such a sweet, beautiful and talented girl who worked so hard to promote the game. Rest in peace lady.”
Condolences were also expressed in comments on her posts on Instagram, where she boasted more than 17,000 followers.
Novikova graduated from the faculty of engineering at the Moscow State Technical University, according to reports.