In Europe, it’s known as novelty betting. Bookmakers from Paddy Power to William Hill post odds and take bets on a variety of activities, from who looks good to win the Nobel Prizes this year to whether Prince Harry’s next girlfriend will be a blonde or a brunette and who might host the Oscars in 2014.

Paddy Power’s favorite to host the Oscar’s next year is Justin Timberlake at 2-to-1 . The odds are 8-to-11 that Harry’s next girlfriend will be a blonde.

But what produces increased publicity if only modest handle for British bookmakers is betting on U.S. politics. And oddsmakers and gaming industry analysts in Las Vegas said that if successful, a Nevada state senator’s efforts to legalize betting on politics will produce more notoriety than revenue.

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After Sen. Hillary Clinton received the public endorsement of Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley this month, Clinton seems to have a newfound interest in studying online gaming. While she probably won’t be found grinding it out in the Full Tilt ring games, she has admitted a bill to study online gambling. Is it a coincidence that Berkley is the one who introduced HR 2140, which is the Internet Gambling Study Bill?

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Clinton does support the study, while Sen. John Edwards does not, citing doubt that legal online gambling could be controlled.

Sen. Barack Obama does support the study, though he has concerns about the internet being a “Wild West of illegal activity.” Strange that he wouldn’t be a bigger supporter of online gaming, specifically poker, when poker is such an important pastime to him. He not only started a weekly game in the Illinois legislature when he was a state senator but reportedly took his game pretty seriously.

Today is the Nevada caucus, so a few hours will tell who gets the support of the state’s voters.