Got it - I like what you're putting down but in my opinion, there's an inherent flaw in the design itself. If you screwed yourself with the pot, the multipliers don't save you. I do wonder if there's some floor mechanic where your base score will be constrained to a positive integer, albeit small, so the player has more incentive to take bigger risks to catch up in the leader board.
That said, great sounds and graphics and presentation.