Hi there! Let me do my best to answer your questions:
1. Yes, the face cards are removed from the deck. In hindsight, the unused face cards should be reshuffled back into the deck. When I tested the game originally, we did not add them back in but they certainly work better for the math and gameplay.
2. Yes, you count the value of your Secret Agenda card, which means you should always have at least a score of 10.
3. After P's turn and if P did not go bust and if at least one agent beats P, then it's a successful action. If the other players go bust, it does not affect the results unless a player wagered a Lucky Coin as well.
4. The bust affects an outcome only if a Lucky Coin was wagered when determining results. If no Lucky Coin was wagered, then the Bust is ignored when referring to the Results table.
5. Yes, the wager still works and the agent keeps their coin.