Thanks for playing.
I just double checked the latest build and you pay out 30% of the contract payment at the start of the level, so only stand to make 70% of it on success. On failure, you lose 80%. So the cost of an incorrect guess is 110%, but that assumes you keep 100% of a correct guess, when it is only 70%. So an incorrect guess costs 157% of what a correct one rewards you.
I should say more about the perks. Seeing the DNA bases through the back of the card is the most fun, it's almost essential. The canine one is revealed by your first flip showing a popup number, with the direction the dogs searched in, left of it. I feel that information should be less fleeting, and better animated. Perks definitely need attention, I mean you can view it all you want before purchasing, and the effects, to me at least, are obvious. Perhaps I will add a glossary illustrating their effects.