Ted Lawson Bio

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Ted Lawson grew up in a very entrepreneurial household. At a young age he was brought into the family home and garden center business. His father taught him the meaning of hard work and effort. He later took that work ethic and applied it towards everything he did the rest of his life.

During his early school years he developed a passion for wrestling. In college he became the captain of his wrestling team and was nationally ranked both at New York Maritime College and at the University of Buffalo. After graduating Lawson coached wrestling before he relocated to Plantation, Florida where he met his wife.

In 1983 Lawson married his wife Michele. In 1983 they turned their life savings of $10,000 into a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol TCHC. Lawson is still active in the company as a member of the Board of Directors.

He learned poker in college and in only the third tournament of his life in 2004, he finished first in the pot-limit Omaha tournament at the World Series of Poker. He beat a tough final table that featured Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Freddy Deeb, and soon to become his best friend, Lee Watkinson. Lawson went heads up with Watkinson for the title and the World Series of Poker gold bracelet, bringing home $500,000. Since that tournament he has cashed for over $2 million.

Lawson loves poker, but his first love will always be his family. He has 2 beautiful daughters, a wonderful son, great son-law, 4 grandchildren, and of course his wife who is always on the rail at every tournament rooting him on.